CS 201 521 Eight Case Studies of Communication Patterns in ...

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ED 096 654 CS 201 521

AUTHOR Ryan, MichaelTITLE Eight Case Studies of Communication Patterns in a

Black, Urban Slum.PUB DATE Aug 74NOTE 31p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the

Association for Education in Journalism (57th, SanDiego, August 18-21, 1974)

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.75 HC-$1.85 PLUS POSTAGEDESCRIPTORS Behavior Patterns; *Black Community; *Case Studies;

Communication (Thought Transfer); Higher Education;*Media Research; *News Media; News Peporting; PublicOpinion; *Urban Slums

IDENTIFIERS Philadelphia

ABSTRACTThe Kerner Commission was critical six years ago in

its assessment of media coverage of black problems, and eight casestudies conducted in Philadelphia indicate that news media may notyet be effectively meeting the needs of some blac4s. In January 1974interviews were held with eight residents in a section of northPhiladelphia characterized in 1970 census tract data as 90 percentblack and defined by the Philadelphia Model Cities program as anurban slum. The comments were divided into six categories: complaintsabout alleged excessive emphasis on bad news about northPhiladelphia, the effects of the emphasis on bad news, problems ofpitting whites against blacks in the media, superficial reporting,the lack of media crusades against social problems, and the problemsof identifying and covering black leaders. (Author/RB)

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EIGHT CASE slums OF COMMONICATION

PATTERNS IN A BUCK, ERNS SLUM

Michael Ryan

Paper Presented to the Mass Canunications and Society Division

of the Association for Education in Journalism

San Diego, California

August 1974

Dr. Ryan is Assistant ProfessorOf Communications at Temple University

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EIGHT CASE STUDIES OF COMMUNICATION

PATTERNS IN A BLACK, URBAN SLUM

. . . the news media have failed to analyze and report adequatelyon racial problems in the United States and, arrifileted matter, tomeet the Negro's legitimate expectations in jomanalism. By and large,news organizations Immo failed to communicate to both their black andwhite audiences a tense of the problems America faces and the sourcesof potential solutions. The media, report and write from the standpointof a white man's world. The ills of the ghetto, the difficulties oflife there, the Negro's burning sense of grievance, are seldom conveyed.Slights and iixlignities are part of the Negro's daily life, and manyof them come fro: what he now calls "the white press"-ma press thatrepeatedly, if unconsciously, reflects the biases, the paternaLima,the indifference of white America. This may be alderstandable but itis not axiusable in an institution that has the mission to inform andeducate the whole of our society. . . .

The Ccardssionts major concern with the news media is not in riotreporting as mph, but in the failure to report adequately on racerelations and ghetto problems and to bring more Negroes into jamansliam. .Disorders are only one aspect of the dilemmas and difficulties of racerelations in America. In defining, explaining, and reporting thisbroader, more complex and ultimately far more fundamental sub342t, thecommunications media, ironically, have failed to camannioato

-41ational Advisory Commissionon Civil Disorders, 1968

The Werner Commission was critical six years ago in its assessment of

media coverage of black problems, and eight case studies in Philadelphia

indicate that news media may not yet be effectively meeting the needs of

some blacks.

Interviews ,were conducted in January 1974 in a section of north

Philadelphia characterised in 1970 census tract data as 90 percent black, 2

and defined by the Philadelphia Model Cities program as an "urban slum." 3

The eight persons interviewed lived in north Philadelphia, and most worked

there at the tine of the interviews.

1

2 BEST Cal NMIEadh of the black respondents was active in the Philadelphia. Model

Cities program: five were men, three were women: they ranged in age from 30

to 61: and their occupations ranged from store clerk to businessman.

Persons active in the Model Cities program were interviewed in the hope

that they would have a better idea of the problems, needs, and desires of

persons in the community, and that they could better relate those feelings

than individuals less active in the cormunity.

An open-end interview schedule was developed before the interviews

were undertaken, but inmost cases the taped responses ranged far beyond the

boundaries established by the questions. Nevertheless, all questions on the

schedule were asked in each interview.

Comments were divided into three major categories: media preference

and influence, media criticism, and changes recommended for news media. Before

proceeding to an examination of the comments, however, two caveats will be

discussed, and the media situation in Philadelphia will be described.

Two Caveats

First, this writer is not suggesting that the opinions of eight

persons is reflective of the views held by all other persons who live in the

slum section of north Philadelphia in which interviews were conducted.

The comments were interesting, however, and they could provide some

basis for further research. Opinions expressed here, furthermore, are worthy

of consideration by persons in positions to make changes in media coverage

of the urban slum, and the role and present actions of media which cover news

in an urban setting could be evaluated with these comments in mind. The

comments are presented as a possible stimulus for thought, riot as a foundation

for policy changes.

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Second, it should be noted that the views expressed here are those

of readers and viewers. No effort was made to obtain the views of newsmen

who work in Philadelphia and cover north Philadelphia.

It is likely that media personnel in Philadelphia have good reasons

for doing some of the things the respondents criticised, and it is clear

that deadlines and other pressures would make it impossible to implement some

of the suggestions or to eliminate some of the problems ,- ',led here--

gtwen the current structure of news media in PhiladelPhia.

Philadelphia's Media Situation

Philadelphians are served by three very high frequency television

stations with network Affiliations, a Public Broadcasting Service station,

five Ultra high frequency television stations, 21 Al! and 22 FM radio stations,

three daily newspapers, a black newspaper published twice a week, and numerous

weekly, bi- weekly, and monthly publications.

Of the three comeroial VHF television stations, KW-TV, the NBC

affiliate, is owned by Group WWestinghoust Broadcasting Co., Incl.; WPVI...

TV, the ABC affiliate, is awned by Capital Cities Broadcasting Corp. of New

York; and WCAU-TV, the CBS affiliate, is owned and operated by CBS.

Among the 43 radio stations which serve Philadelphia, two-44H WT and

WDAS-mare "black oriented," although they are owned by whites; one--XVWsis

an all-news station owned by the Westinghouse group; and one--WCAU--is

predominately, a news station, although some entertainment content is aired.

All other stations are predominately entertainment oriented.

Three daily newspapers published in Philadelphia are ,The, EECBulletin, circulation (according to Editor & Publisher Year Boojk 6n,634;

the evening Phi ladelybia ,Daily News, circulation 250,697; and at 011. ladelyhis

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Inquirer (morning), circulation 450,293. The Inguirer and the tabloid-size

Dells News were purchased by the Knight chain in 1970 fran Walter R.

Annenberg's Triangle Iliblications, Inc. The Bulletin, as it proclaims on

the page one flag 04e1 day, is "independent-locally owned."

The black community also is served by The Philadelphia Tribune, an

independently owned twice-weeklr publication founded in 1884 (circulation

37,554) ; a Philadelphia edition of "Lite AfromLmerican, a weekly newspaper

published in Baltimore; and a weeklr Philadelphia edition of the New Pittsbursh

Courier called the Philadelphia Courier B3ack.

Media Preference and Media Influence

Persons interviewed for this raper were asked how persons in the

north Philadelphia community get most of their news about what's going on in

Philadelphia and in north Philadelphia speciticallrthrough radio, television,

newspapers, talking to people, or where--iand to indicate why one source of

information may be more popular than another source.

Numerous investigators (e.g., Greenberg and Dervin, Allen, Sargent and

Stempel, and and Lindsay) have documented the heavy reliance of the

urban poor on broadcast media, so emphasis here is on determining Ait env medium

4may be more prefarred than another.

In the second part of this section, responses to the question, "Are

newspapers, radio, and television influential in the north Philadelphia

eamuunity?" are explored.

Reasons for Preferring One

Medium More than Another.

Reasons given by respondents for preferring one medium more than

another ranged widely; sane reasons had to do with the nature of the different

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media, some with the perceived fairness of the media, and BMW with the

availability of different kinds of news in mass mmdia.

One womon,who felt the use of certain kinds of broadcast media stemmed

mare from the nature of the media than from a greater confidence in the

content of the news presented, said:

But, the reason I say radio and television [are most preferred],radio in particular; the people who are housewives, the people who don'twork--in particular housewife--eyoa can have your radio en, you're washingyour dishes, you're cooking, you're listening, you can get a lot of news.You can take your radio with you--to the bathroom even. rand get a lot ofnews.

Another comment which indicated that the preference for one medium

more than another may stem more from the nature of the medium than its content

was made by a man who saids "For news purposes, my family usually watches the

Group W Eyewitness News. They usually do a pretty thorough job. You know,

they present their news coverage along with the corresponding film clips. In

essense, they make it pretty interesting."

Broadcast media, however, gain support not only because the nature of

the media makes them easier to use, but apparently becauseas several persons

mentioned--film reports at the scenes of same news events are perceived to be

more fair than newspaper reports of the same events. One man expressed the

view this ways

But, as far as fairness of reporting of the news is concerned, Iwould say the most fair media would be radio or television because theydhow it ju.st like it is, even though they do edit a lot of it But whatthey do show, it's just the way it is, whereas any newspaper can alwaysprint what they want.

And I do know for a fact that a lot of newspaper reporters who havebeen given good stories -rand who have covered stories, and have submittedit--it has been cut out. They weren't allowed to print it. I would skytelevision gives the best picture of what is actually happening in thecommunity. And even it has a tendency to delete or cut out.

But newspapers are not without =mart among the eight persons inter-

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viewed here. "I think more people pay more attention to newspapers and read

newspapers than people really realize," one woman said. "I really. do. If you

don't believe it, go by trash day and see all the papers in the tre14."

It may be, in the view of at least three respondents, that the news-

papers servo a supplementaryrather than a primaryinformation role. One

woman expressed a common view when all, said:

Like if something happen, and you'll come up, say, we'll run you down

to the corner to get the Daily Nees to see if it's in the DailTliggb you

know like that.

I'm giving my opinion on the basic people that I work with, and that

is the very lower class, not the middle class and all like that. They

don't do that much of reading...as far as literatx'e and all. Like I say,

if somebody got hurt, or this person died, they'll run to the Daily News

because they get the Daily News every day for the mortalities.

It appears that the mass media in Philadelphia sometimes take second

place to the grape/ine because some kinds of news alfe not covered, or they are

covered inadequately-in the view of some persons interviewed here. In fact,

ono woman said that ". . . the grapevine comes first [as a news source],

because, you know, rum,Irs carry. It's one of the largest communications out

here." A male responient supported her view, saying:

There's a lot of things that happen in your community that you don't

see in the newspaper or in your radio or TV coverage.-on your television

coverage. And it's not related.

I knou incidents like dope is heavily pushed in the north Philadelphia

area. Now, there've been two or three killings concerning dope, and the

local coverage that we got from the news medium or the television wasn't

anything, and most of this news was transferred through the neighborhood

through the community. You know, peogle tel other persons. They

[individuals who see things happen] tell other people and other people

just pass it on. Like they meet people at the stares, the corners, or

bars, or stuff like that. And they just tell them incidents that happened.

Another man emphasized the importance of word-of-mouth communication,

but at the same tine questioned its reliability, when he said:

I would say that the majority of peopledepending on the type ofnews it isif it concerns something that happen in the community, I think

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that they get it through word- of- tuouth. I mean, through their

neighbors. I think this is where it mostly goes. News is spread,

How accurate it Is, I don't know. It's a question of. --by talking

to people--iwhat they might add or subtract from it. Depending on what

side they [persons who spread news by word-of-mouth] would be taking,

too. See, like if it's an incident that would concern the police, theymight add a few words if they didn't gat along with the police, or ifthey did get along. There might be pro and con to the police.

Other important sources of information are circulars, sound trucks,

and regular community meetings. Circulars and sound trucks are considered to

be more reliable means of getttng information to the people than sending press

releases to the press, according to two respondents, "Especially if you want

to call a mass meeting in the community, you use sound," one person said.

"This is the one sure and fast way of getting it done." Of the community

meetings, one respondent said:

Most of the information that is discussed and problems of schools isgotten to the community by our home and school meetings, or either it'sdiscussed in a community meeting that want to do something about helping

that particular problem. -a many cases, when the newspaper it it in

there, it's distorted. It's not the way it is. They have really over -

played it.

Media Influence, Power

It appears from the responses of the eight persons interviewed that

the media, at least in Philadelphia, can have a great deal of influence--when

they decide to exercise it. The reason why media appear to be influential,

however, apparently does not always stem from accurate and fair reporting,

but from a rather blind faith in what newsmen say. As one man mid:

It [FIdladaphia news media] does have a decided, you know, influenceon the way some people think, because a lot of people think that someeditors and some news columnists can't tell a lie, You know, they thinkwhatever they say is gospel truth. Because a lot of times when you saysomething to a person, the first thing they'll say, "I read it in thenewspaperso and FO said it."

I'd havc to say that it [news media] does have a lot of influence on,

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I would have to say, the majority of the people in north Philadelphiabecause the majority of them are not capable of, shall we say, analyzingthe news and taking into consideration that another human being wrote that.

So it doesn't necessarily have to be so. But I would say, overall, that

the news mediathe radio and the televisiondoes have an influence on

the people in the community.

Another man supported this rather negative view of the power of the

news media when he said:

The news media in general carries an awful lot of weight in this

town as far as policy-1z concerned, as far as the position that people

take in regard to any particular issue. In essense, they could distortthe news and give you false opinion of what's going on, and the public

would generally buy it just by virtue of the fact that the Inquirer, theDaily News, and the Bulletin said so.

But if the news media are influential simply because they are filling

a void that no other information sources are filling, as most persona

interviewed believe, they remain optimistic about what the media could do if

they tried. One man expressed the optimistic viewpoint this ways

Certainly, the north Philadelphia community can use all of thesupport that both television, radio, and the newspapers can offer becauseonce the attention of all Philadelphians are focused on north Philadelphia,

then I think that interest would improve to the extent that most of the

respective government -local, state, and federalcan feel safe in spend-ing same more mor..ey in order to do a turnabout in this segment of

town. . .

More space. More coverage. You know, I have never underestimatedthe power of the news mediawhether it be radio, television, or the

dailies. They are in a position, in my opinion moreso than anyone else,to reflect public opinion and to manipulate public thinking and there's no

doubt in my mind that if our dailies saw fit to crusade in behalf of therevital.t%ation or rejuvenation of the north Philadilphia community, thatit would go a long wky.

Media Criticism

All eight persons interviewed expressed dome negative opinions about

the news mediaradio, television, and newspapersin Philadelphia, and about

their coverage of events in north Philadelphia, Those criticisms are broken

down into six main groups: complaints about an alleged excessive emphasis on

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bad news about north Philadelphia, the effects of the emphatis on bad news,

problems of pitting whites against blacks, superficial reporting, the lack

of media crusades, and the problems of identifying and covering black leaders.

Excessive Emphasis on Bad News

Perhaps the most serious complaint voiced emphatically by all eight

persons in .:viewed was that the news media personnel who decide what news

to cover place too much emphasis on what they call the "wrong kinds of news"

and not enough am, 'what they see as the "right kinds of news."

Each emphasized that north Philadelphia is not being helped, and in

some cases is being harmed, by persons making what they called the wrong news

judgments. ''',Most of the coverage that they give to the north Philadelphia

area is unfavorable anyway, to the majority of the people who are law.ibiding

citizens," one man said. "They give an image to the rest of the people about

the people in north Philadelphia."

A woman, also criticising the emphasis on bad news, said the image

created about north Philadelphia typically is negative. "There are many

people who live in north Philadelphia," she said, "who have good jobs, who

are respectable people. We all don't play up the bars. Right away when you

say you come from north Philadelphia, tkugh,1 People look at you like you're

same monster or something . ft

A man expres!ed much the same opinion, but in a slightly different

way, when he said:

The news media doesn't place the same emphasis on the importanceof news as north Philadelphia sees it. See, like if a boy goes to school

during the day and gets out cf school and somas home, and works, you

know, during the evening, and then does this on as ongoing basis, that's

no news.

But if a boy hookies school and goes out and breaks, you know, somewindows on the turnpike or takes potshots at railroad cars; well, that's

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news. They publicize that, because it has a tendency to sell morepapers than a bob doing what a normal boy should do. Actually, when

you look at it, there are more good boys than there are bad.

Another person accounted for the alleged over-emphasis on bad news by

pointing to the esonomic structure of the mass media and their needs for

wide circulations and large audiences. He said:

I would say that the newspapers, radio, and television are insensitive

to north Philadelphia as such. Because the basic news that they print is

news that they feel will sell newspapers [or, he said moments later,attract listeners and viewers].

There tre a lot of things that are good going on in the community thatyou don't hear about, that you don't read about, unless the particular

agency or the person involved makes it known. The newspapers don't seek

it out. Anything that's what you might say, controversial or that's,shall you say, a financial asset to the newsptper as snch--that they will

go out [and report] and they will exploit that type of news in this

area.

Actually, you'll find more destructive news than constructive news.Because for some reason or other the news media is not inclined to show

the good points of what's happening in north Philadelphia. Particularly,

it's been labeled a jungle and they tend to try to justify the application

of that label.

Another respondent expressed much the same sentiment when he said:

I think that the black community in north Philadelphia can certainly

benefit by less news of violence. It's unfortunate that violence sells

newspapers, but tl..e fact of the matter is that there are so many other

areas of concern that a newspaper can devote its space to, and still

sell newspapers.

A woman interviewed said the reason for the emphasis on negative

aspects of life in north Philadelphia may stem from something other than the

need of newspapers to sell newspapers and the need of television and radio

news programs to attract wide audiences. This Is what she said:

The same incident could happen in a school in north Philadelphia,the same incident could happen at Northeast High Schoolyou would nothear about that. Bad things, I'm '..4iking about. Negative things, I'mtalking about. You would not hear about that. A same positive thingthat could happen in north Philadelphia that happened up Northeast--identical positive thing --you would hear about it.

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think it's a racial thin_ because I talked with some students. A

few years back we were doing some surveys on students in various parts

of the city, trying to find out their grade levels, and what subject

materials were being used, and the behavior of students. And we took a

sampling of students from all over the city.

And Northeast students then told me that it was dope up there in the

northeast high schools, and said that kids had been knocked out with it

in school. The police had came--it never got into the paper. If the

police come in one of our schools down here and take out a kid with dope,

somebody makes 5%x:a it get into the paper. I definitely think it's a

racial thing.

Another respondent said (..hat part of the proklem of reporting the

more positive aspects of life in north Philadelphia i.s that the news media

really are unaware of what is going on. "I think newspapers could not bring

this to the attention of the public if they are not aware of what's going on

themselves," Ake sed. "And I'm sure they're unaware."

Effects of Bad News

All of the respondents said that negative publicity can harm or even

destroy positive efforts to improve the community. "But the thing is," one

man said, "that as you're working to try to develop the neighborhood and

develop people--all this goes by [unreported]. And all the work you put in

goes down the drain when one person, you know, slips a little bit."

Each individual related an incident in which he or she felt good work

was "down the drain" because of a negative story by one of the media. One

woman said, for instance:

Now, we have fellows coming down [to north Philadelphia] from prison

[to work in a community redevelopment centor], right? Now, nobody will

say anything. Say, one fellow came out and do something to one of thecommunities--then it'll be in the paper, you see what I mean?

And they remodeled the house -which was $43,000--and that's a lot of

money in this kind of neighborhood. None of this was mentioned.

But you let one fellow come out and get overdrunk or, you know, doanything--he don't even have to really hurt somebody, but get drunk, and

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have to get arrested or, you know, disturb the p,Ace. Then they'll saythat "He belongs to this center," and such and ..ach a thing.

The negative effect of the alleged emphasis on bad news manifests

itself in another way, however, and it is considered dangerous by all the

persons interviewed. Each, without exception, felt that media coverage of

gang activities in north Philadelphia (41 jtveniles were killed last year,

and four have died in gang-related murders this year) is inadequate. "I can't

get no kind of coverage if it's something that the kids really got theirselves

together," ore woman said. "But anytime we have any kind of gang problem, I

got news medics down, I got TVs dotn. And we reruse to talk to them. Because

I don't think they're helping us any."

Some respondents claimed that news media not ong.y are failing to help

find solutions to the problem, they are in fact contributing to it. As one

woman said, "I think this is one of the things that keeps the gang problem

rolling. It's all the publication that's been given to them by the newspaper.

I, for one, am against it-the publicity they get. Any publicity."

A man supported her view when he said:

It [coverage of gang violence] creates a problem for a lot of thegood boys when they see the boys that are not good getting all theatteLtion, you understand? And this is one of the problems with thegangs in the neighborhood. The boys are looking for identity'. Youknow, they want to be known, and a lot of people don't recognise them,so they go out and do something so that they become recognized.

Each person expressed the view that the news media, with their alleged

excessive emphasis on bad news, help perpetuate the problem of gang murders,

and most gave concrete examples of the ways in which gangs are influenced by

media coverage. Three of the examples are recounted here. The first is from

a woman whose son grew up with a rather famous gang member in Philadelphia.

She srid:

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You probably have heard of Cornbread, who had his name scrawledaround everywhere. He was a very prominent gang member. Don't youknow you would meet boysyou'd say, "What's your name?" [They'danswer, "I'm Cornbread." Because they looked up to Cornbread; Corn-bread was like an idol. The Phi ladel Inquirer Sunday Magazine haddone a story on Cornbread and is activities.

Now, Cornbread grew up with my son, They never did a story on thisother young man that grew up at , that went to Franklin [High School]ereryday, had no gang problems, graduated, and is in college. Theydidn't do no story on him. Eighteen years uld. Never been arrested.Never had a brush with the law. They didn't do no story on him, so whyshould they do a story on Cornbread?

So lads begin to think, "Well, if my name is scrawled all around,and if I walk up and threaten somebody or shoot sanisitody, my name'sgoing to get in the paper."

Another woman related this sto...-yt

In ray particular area, which I live in [Model Cities] area hubI'm the there. I'm a community-wise person. I've been there foryears.

The boys this summer were not at gang war. They were peaceful.They were athletically minded because they were participating in thesummer program activities. And all of a sudden, on a Sunday, thisfellow conies up with this big two or three page notification that theZulus were this, the Zulus were that, and the next day the boys were- -they were in turmoil. So I really don't think this is right.

And then he came up Monday with his camera and his crew and they wasgoing to shoot these pictures and the boys told him they didn't want anyparts of him. I went down and talked to them and told them, "You don'tneed this. Tell him you don't need it. You're at peace, you're goingto stay at peace."

It [the publicity] makes them feel great, I think, "I made thispaperthe next time I may make the Inquirer. Who knows, I may makethe frcnt page on the Bulletin." It's the scandal that these newspaperscover.

One woman described the impact of news media coverage of gang violence

on the members of a gang which had been relatively peaceful until a violent

incident occurred and was reported by local news isedia. She said:

The first thing you hear them [gang members] say is, "I'm going to geta body." Like we had 15th and Oxford [gang .you didn't even hear or them,they were very quiet. And one of the fellows got killed. Than they were

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supposed to have killed a policeman's son. And for one week straight

they was in the paper. And they ware a big gang. You know what I

mean?

The boys were there all the time. And nobody know nothing. Andthey had a redevelopment where they worked with La local school andchurch] and all, but we didn't get the publicity we need. They reallystopped gang warring. They had their own club. They had their money

in the treasury. Nothing happened.

But Just as soon as something happened for one week they were in thepaper. You see what I mean, like if a paper had played wombat they weretrying to do, and give them a'little encouraging, they would help alot. So that makes 15th and Oxford a big gang. So now the Valleyifthey do something worse than 15th and Oxford, this mak3s theme biggergang. So it doesn't help it. I think it does put a little of gasoline

on the fire.

Blacks vs. Whites

Two persons interviewed said news media often attempt to maximize

the racial aspects of some situations involving black neesmaksra and white

newsmakers. One man, for example, said that burglaries and muggings typically

are ignored by news media, except under one circumstance:

If it's-emsualty--on a white person [mugging by a black individual]or something, they'll blow it up because it's a racial thing, or itturns out to be a racial thing. Because anytime they pit one againstthe other, it's news.

You take the incident of where the white student at Temple got killed[in spring 1972]. How much paper coverage? I mean, look at the ggngviolence we have. They cover it, but right away it's dropped. Theydon't follow up the cases. Was the guy caught? Was he convicted? But inthe case of the white student, it might be today you get some information,next day, next week. But a black kid, they get it one day and thenforget about it

Another respondent noted that blacks in north Philadelphia often

work with children, helping them solve problems with gangs, family relation-

ships, schools, and other things, but that few stories appear in the news

media which report that a black individual is helping a black child.

But a lot of times, we'll see in the newspaper or televisionwe'llsee a black child being helped bye white person. But I mean, it's bowl

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to see where a black child is being helped by a black person, andI do know that they do help them, see. And so, it's not newsworthy,but they do it. And when they put it in print, they'll put a whiteperson with a little black child that she helped, this and that. Buteveryday, I see plenty of black people helping black children and itsnot reported in the paper.

The man offered two possible explanations for what he saw as unfair

treatment by the news media:

Well, it might be because the news media is run by the Whites, orthey don't think that it's worthy to see that a black person is helpinganother black person. They figure maybe it's their obligation--or they'resupposed to do it anyway. And it's not newsworthy. But they figure thatif a white person does it, they're doing something out of the ordinaryand they'll print it.

Superficial Reporting

Some respondents alleged that the news media not only fail in many

cases to report the news which they think should be reported, but that the

reporting sometimes is superficialfor good news as well as for bad news,

One woman, for instance, criticised newsmen for reporting only what happened

at an important meeting, and not attempting to gather additional information.

The example she gave related to a meeting of the Philadelphia School

Board, in which the busing of black students into white districts was

discussed. The meeting was televised, and more whites attended the meeting

primarily to protest the plan--than blacks.

The mown said few blacks attended primarily because, "we actually

don't know what is going on in our school system." Furthermore, she said:

I think the community and parents have gotten to the place now thatthis desegregation thing, I think, is a lot of talk. They've been talkingabout it for years and years. I feel that even white people that resentour kids from coming up in their community have said to themselves, "Well,this ain't going through."

We feel that when we're invited to serve on a committee to helpto make plans, that the system got the plans all made up anyway. And

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people feel that they're only wasting their time going to those meetings.And I think people felt the same way last night--that they're onlywasting their time going to the board to holler and scream and objectto that plan because the beard's going to do--in this case--probablygoing to do what they want to anyway, which is not going to be very much.

The woman said the local news media left the impression that the

desegregation plan was supported by no one because little support was voiced

for the plan at the school board meeting. She said, however, that the media

should have done more to report the story adequately:

Don't you think they could have ran a survey to find out [what theblack community thought of the proposal]? Would that have been difficult?The schools that were affected were listed in the paper. So if they hadthat in the paper, I see no problem with them contacting thobe schoolsto get some input on the feelings of the community on either aide as faras the busing was concerned. I see no problem.

If they wanted to find out, they could find out things. If theyhad been more concerned about playing up the desegregation plan andreally helped to do something positive about it. They find ways ofdoing anything else they want to do.

One person interviewed expressed the belief that even the coverage

of bad news, which she objects to, is superficial in that some aspects

of the situation often are ignored. She said

They could also add to these [stories] things that they never add tothem when they write some negative things. If we had the same type offacilities, the same quality of schools, same quality of education thatother kids have. You don't never see anything about that in the paper.The kids down here would not be any worse than the kids anywhere else- -which they're not any worse. Really.

Media Crusades

One criticism of media coverage of the news of north Philadelphia

was that stories which respondents considered worthwhile are dropped after

one or two days, and that the stories are not picked up again for many

weeks or months. As one man said of tke problem:

They [media] could be [helpful in solving problems], but you can'tstart something and drop it. You would have to follow through with it.

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17

I think that if they would give it enough coverage, it would reach the

people, 800. And it would probably start a chain of events. But Ithink that it has an influence in the community to make changes, ifthey would emphasize it. I mean, not just once or twice and thanforget about it.

The old - fashioned media crusade for an issue or against a social or

political ill is not as common as it once was, but some respondents suggested

that the old - fashioned crusade maybe the best way the media can help

solve the problems faced by Slum. residents.

"There're a lot of people who have these problems," one man said,

"and they need to be motivated. A lot of them have been turned off at one

time or the other and they have the impression that, "Oh, what good is it

going to doT It's not going to do any good." One man mentioned that a

crusade might hell) lead to solutions to the city's gang problem:

I think they could do a better job [with the gang problem] --the

dailies. They could do a better job just by virtue of deviating realisticspace and trying and attempting to arouse the anger of the citizenryenough to rid their own community of the gang element.

Or by virtue of arousing them to the extent that theyql pat thetype of pressure on city council and the state legislature and thegovernor's office and on Washington to the extent that people in authoritywill, get the message and say, "Hey, we're going to have to addressourselves to this problem down here because the voters are saying thatthis is what we want."

Identification and Coverage

of Legitimate Black Leaders

An important problem in reporting news from the black community has

been one of identifying leaders in the community. Wyly respondents interviewed

here contenoed that the Philadelphia news media don't do a very good job of

finding true leaders. One man cited a specific situation in which tho wrong

person often gets the coverage:

A lot of people you hear hollering "police brutality." But this isnot the majority of the people. This is only a minority, and most of the

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people who holler police brutality are the ones out there committing

crime or going bad. So they're hollering just to get the police off

their back.

But the majority of the people you hear say, "All right, let's stopthe dope. Stop the fighting and everything," They're the majority outthere--they're the ones who are being injured. They're the ones who want

the help.

And the first thing you see, the newspaper will pick ups-somebodysaid "police brutality." Well, this might be one of the hoodlums outthere himself and the newspaper will print this and this guy will comeout and say something to the newspaper and right away he's a "spokesman"or "leader," you know, in the community and he could be nothing but ahoodlum or something. And they just take it for granted that this guy'sspeaking for the community, when he's not. Because the majority of thepeople, they don't say anything, but they would like for the policemanto come in and stop the crime, stop the dope pushing, add like thatbecause it's committed against them. They're the ones who suffer themost.

It's been known anybody can come in. You take a gang leader, he cancome in and he's got five, six people in back of him. He can follow upand say something and they say hm's a leader or something like that.They don't actually find out, "Is he really a leader, or do the communityrespect him, or is he in the communIty?" They don't even bother to findout.

All they want is something that makes news at that minute or that hourand the rest of it is forgotten. I don't think they actually go.-,out oftheir way to find outs "Is this guy a legitimate spokesman as far as thiscommunity? What does he do in this community?"

Another respondent, a woman, supported the contention that news media

sometimes do not tap true community leadership for information, when she

said:

The people who can shout the loudest are people whose name has beenthrown around a few times for doing something they've done somewhere.But as far as the real leaders in the community, you seldom read aboutthem in the papers. I mean the ones that are really committed-making,bringing about changes in the community.

When I say people that are really committed to this, I mean peoplethat you can't sell down the drain, They are not in it for money. Forinstance, we have some pretty strong community people in our comamnitythat was bought out. For instance, if I talk too much and know too much,the board's going to give me a big job.

But there are other people that are different from that. They are not

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going to accept that big job because they are really committed to dosomething about changing the community.

One man addressed himself to the problem of black leadership and

the problem of getting the leadership and the reporters together:

Ycv take in the community, there's a lot of blocks that are organized,see, and they elect block captains. These people are leaders. We havecommunity programs in there where people meet, and, I mean, I don't seethe newspapers cover these meetings. Sometimes they're asked. There'recertain instances where they've been invited to participate, but theydon't participate.

They wait, and if it's not a large crowd, an unruly crowd, theyfigure it's not worth printing. But if you only have a small group meetingor a small group demonstrating, they don't bother to cover it. But if theyfigure there's going to be trouble or something, they'll be right there.

Another problem with regard to black leadership, some respondents

argued, was that black leadership is sometimes covered by the news media in a

way that they consider unfair. As one man noted:

A lot of times they'll try and discredit people who are black leaders.See, if they get a hint of a scandal or something, the newspapers will goright in and, you know, print this and everything else. Well, this doeshurt because it tends for, say, the people in the community and thepeople outside of the community to lose respect for then.

Another respondent discussed the problems which arise when the news

media report news and it later turns out to be incorrect=

They don't come back and reprint a retraction or a follawaup storyabout what he's doing in the community and everything else. So now,the paper has started a rumor or this type of thing, and they haven'tcome back to clear it up or anything. So people, actually, when theyhave leaders, the papers tend to discredit them by scandal, you know.-whether it's true or not.

This information has come out--they don't try and find out whetherit's true or false and everything. They get a hint of it and theyblast it in the paper and television. Then they forget about it. It'snews for that day and then they forget about it.

But what happens afterwards? You know, do they come back and say,"Well, this man is an upstanding citizen" and everything? Like when he'sin trouble, they have the paper on him, the camera on him and everything.Hell, if he's exonerated, go to his house now and put him in the paperan0 everything and let the people know.

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Changes Recommended for News Media

All persons interviewed were rather critical of the news media in

Philadelphia, and all suggested ways in which media coverage and operations

could be extended or improved to better meet the needs of persons who live

in north Philadelphia. The recommendation made most often, cartel:ay, was

that bad news should not be emphasized so vigorously. But there were other

suggestions.

In this section, comments are divided into three subsections: news

which perhaps should be covered but isn't, the necessity to find the right

kind of black personnel, and the need for new sections and better fillers.

News That Isn't Reported,

But Perhaps Ought To Be

Respondents were asked if any kinds of news content were being under-

reported or ignored, and most were able to name specific kinds of stories

which they believe could be better covered by the news media. Interestiney,

not all of the news mentioned was the kind of positive news they said they

wanted. In fact, two men said that more emphasis should be given to the

problems .,aced by north Philadelphia residents. One man said:

I would think that certainly with the problems that north Philadelphiahas--and the residents of north Philadelphia have--I think it would be agreat service if the newspapers, and the radios and the television mediawould devote more space and time to exposing some of the 'obleme thatespecially north Philadelphia area faces.

Another man felt the same way-phut he expressed the problem a little

differently:

Anything that happens in the community, it's important to a person inthe community, because to rectify your problems, you must know about them.And if you donftknow about them, these things go on.

What did they say years ago? They thought that when the black peoplewere treated badly, or seated in the back seat of the bus or somethings

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"Jell, we thought you were satisfied because you didn't say anything.

We didn't know." Well, this is ;That I'm saying, see, we don't know, So

if you don't know or bring up your problems, the majority will say you're

satisfied--which you're not.

Specific kinds of news needed and desired by persons in the north

Philadelphia community, one man said, include information about where persons

can go for help in solving specific problems which confront them, without hav-

ing to travel all over the city.

The problem is that a lot of people in Philadelphia helve problems and

they are not aware that there is help available to them without charge

even. So they are rather hesitant, and that's why now and then you'll

pick up the newspaper and you'll see where somebody's been flim-flammed

or somebody's been overcharged or somebody who's been in need of services

and just practically, may as well say, died from neglect because they

didn't know where or to wham to turn to for help, So if this type of

information is given more publicity with the knowledge that there's no

charge on this type of informationit's for free. things will be better.

Just to give you an example --the potholes in the street, There was

a lady who had a pothole in front of her !louse on 19th Street, which is

a busy street. Even late at night, any car or truck hit that bump and

it would shake the whole house. And she really didn't know what to do

about it--her nerves were bad.

And one day, I happened to be passing by and she just, stopped me andsaid, "Mister, is there anything I can do about that pothole in the

street?" And there's a number that you can call for potholes. So I told

her, "Call that number." So she called the number, and must have been a

week or so later I saw her and she thanked me. And she said, "I got help

the very next day." So they came out and they fixed the pothole.

Each respondent also mentioned that the news media should provide

information about important meetings scheduled in the community and about

issues which would affect persons in north Philadelphia. One man argued that

the publication of meeting times and places could have beneficial results in

that persons in the community would ". . . maybe go down there and maybe see

what it's about and I could maybe [speak] with may experience on this side and

yours on that side--maybe we could pull it together."

Most pointed out, however, that the method of publication could be

crucial. One woman, for example, expressed a typical opinion when she said:

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If people saw that in the Bulletin, or the Inquirer, or the Daily

News the date of the meeting, the subject, rather than back in some

little corner or somewhere, [that would be helpful].

A lot of people have a fashion of reading headlines. If they pat

that in nice bold headlines somewhere, rather than in a little corner

somewhere, and many say to the community, you know, "You better be about

looking into that Homesteading Act--it's not what it's supposed to be,"

I'm pretty sure that they would.

Others argued that the results of meetings and speeches should be

published and that ofte't they are not, even when the splech or meeting is

important to the community. One woman, for example, said s

I don't remember seeing anything I scanned through it, I didn't

look real hard through the paper--for the affair that T. was coming to

Wednesday nightthe Urban League's annual dinner. Now, the Urban

League is nationwide, it does a lot of things, and their national

president was here for the speechVernon Jordan.-plus the fact that

it was a very big affair.

I don't believe there was no news coverage of it. I'm not sure, but

I didn't see anything in the paper about it yet. And I do understand

that somebody did ask them about it and they said, "Well, around six

o'clock we're very, very busy," and said, "Well do our beat to get

out there." I think Vernon Jordan's whole message should have been in

the paper.

Most respondents knew of material other than that coming from meet-

ings and speeches which they thought should be reported. Most were programs

being run in the comvanitr which were of benefit to residents of the city.

One man, for instance, pointed out that news of the Pennsylvthis.

Higher Education Assistance Agency, a state agency that provides gnats and

loans to students in need, should be publicized. Students are eligiiale when

their parents' income does not exceed $15,000 annually. "Virtually everyone

within this particular segment of town would qualify," he said. "I think

this is news that's worth knowing about."

Another program considered worthy of publicity was described by the

man who runs its

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In my particular position with tho plumbers union, the steamfittersunion, [I'm] aut hero trying to findtrying to get--the minority youngmen interested in a trade-which was at one time very hard, very hardto get into. But now, at this particular time, they have the opportunity.And how many do I find that actually wants to follow through..-to becomea mechanic in the plumbing and steamfitting fields. It's a good trade.It's a good trade. . . .

But you never hear anything about it. Nothing. None whatsoever. IfI don't get out there and do it on my own, you never hear about it. Never.

Another woman felt that a program to distribute Christmas "caskets to

the needy in north Philadelphia was worthy of publicity, saying, "that to me

is a human interest storythat you are still caring clout people."

Finally, two individuals mentioned stories.one in which the respondent

was personally involvedwhich they believed should have been reported but

were not, One of the stories was described this ways

I know that a lot of policemen are being dropped and fired forthese crimes [crimes allegedly committed by members of the PhiladelphiaPolice Department]. But this is what the Police Commission don't wantknown. But why don't the news media tell the pdhlic this? I mean, thenthey know thateven though it's quiet--they are being dismissed fromthe force. A lot of people figure, "He's a policeman, he can get awaywith it." But a lot of times they're quietly Just edged out.

I think that if the public knew that these people are being edgedout that they're being fired, dismissed, and everything --that there isa chance, you know. I mean, the newspapers could say same of thepolice are dismissed, but they don't print this news. Why? It makes itbad? But I think it would make it good because if people know that ifa policeman --he's like anybody else--if he's wrong, get rid of him. It's

like in the Wttergate-type, Agnew. If they're bad, get rid of them.

Ths 3ther story which went unreported, but which at least one north

Philadelphia resident felt shouldn't have, is described in the woman's own

words:

On Wednesday night, I got into a Yellow Cab in Center City, andI think that's very important. And the door was rather hard to openand the cab driver refused to open the door for me.

After I got in, he took my address, and I asked him if his unionprohibited him from extending courtesy to people, And at that point heasked me to get out. And I told him, no, I wasn't going to get out, thatthat was a public vehicle, and I was not going to get out until hetook me to my destination.

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And he insisted that I get out and I refused. Then he tried to get

someone on his telephone in his car, and he couldn't. Then he walked

around to the door and opened the door and said, "Madam, will yva please

get out, because I'm not going to take you anywhere."

And I told him as dangerous as the streets were in Philadelphia, that

"Dammit, I ain't going to get out of here."

So he walked up the street and I looked around, wondering what he was

doing. I thought perhaps he was going to call his supervisor. And in

five minutes time--I really think I'm exaggerating when I say five

minutes - -there was a blue car and a patrol wagon same up with three officers

[all white]. And one of them was a big tall officer--the other two were

like medium size menT-opened the door and ordered me out of the cab.

I refused to get out. I told them, I said, "What are the charges?"

I said, "Why should I get out? This is a public vehicle. He accepted

me in here, now why does he want me out?"

And they said, "Come on, madam, get out,"

And I said, "I'm not going to get out." And I went in my bag and took

out my pencil and I started taking his number. And I said, "The mayor's

going to hear about this. I'm going to report this."

At that time they calmed down and started treating me a little more

humane and said, "Lady, would you please get out? We only want to talk

to you."

When I got out they told me that because the cab driver had said

because I was antagonizing him that they were doing their duty by seeing

to it that I got out of his cab. But I also had the right to take thenumber off the cab and report it to the Yellow Cab Co,

What annoyed me so was that they only took five minutes to come and

I didn't hesitate to tell them, I told them: "I am a respectable, middle-

aged woman, worked for the police department for 14 years, bel;ed toorganize the Police Community Relationship Organization, and the 23rdpolice district. Goddammit, when I call you up at and Ave.,

it takes you 15 minutes, 20 minutes, a half an hour and, dammit, eamotimeeyou don't never come.

"But here a respectable citizen who go out maybe once or twice ayear, sitting in a cab, here you come and [take] wive goddamn minutes to

throw me out,"

I said: "The mayor's going to hear about it. [Philadelphia PoliceCommissioner Joseph] O'Neill's going to hear about it. All the papers isgoing to hear about it," I just took the badge number of the police andI had the number of the Yellow Cab, They tried to calm me down, but Iwas just so mad. . . .

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And in neighborhood, I'm not kidding you, I have called thosepolice, my neighbors have called. My block is pretty tightlyorganized. If something happen, I'll call; then I'll call my next doorneighbor; then she'll call; then she'll call somebody else to, you know,tell them to call. And you think they come? When they get good andready.

The woman, 61 years old, did carry through on her threat to notify

the press about the incident with the cab driver and the police, but she was

less than satisfied with the results, as she explained:

When I called the Dail.? News, I talked with a man who took my storyand said that he was going to see what he could do about it. He didn'tpromise mendbody's promised meto put it in the paper.

When I called the Bulletin, they asked me to write my story as I hadtold it to the lady, and it would get in the editorial. As a matter offact, both papers said it would be in the editlrlal. Probably.

see shat they could do. Probably. I guess it wasn't what they wanted.

And the Tribune was quite interested in the fact that Yellow Cabrefused me, but I was surprised that they ddd not show more interest inthe action of the police department. Because I thiught that if theyreally played that up, that might at least scratch the surface and dosomething to the black community and let them know that Center City does

get this service. For no reason at all. The cab driver didn't say Iwas attacking him or anything. He said I was being antagonizi. Andthey're waiting for some more information from me.

They insisted that I go to Yellow Cab and talk with somebody [theydidn't offer to make the call], and then came bo....k or call them and letthem know what the results of it was. I didn't have any promise whatsoever

of it really getting into the paper.

For the woman involved with the white cab driver and policemen, the

incident was an examOle of the insensitivity of the local news mediaincluding

the black Tribuneto the needs of persons living in north Philadelphia. As

she said:

For instance, the story that I just told youhow do they know thatI am capable of writing this story? How do they know how much it's goingto inconvenience me to get down to the newspaper office to tell thisstory to them? They're /sally not sensitive to the needs of the peoplein north Philadelphia. Or either they don't give a damn.

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Black Personnel

Many news media have, in recent years, begun to hire more black

personnel, in many cases to cover news of the black community. The trend may

help solve some problems, as some persons interviewed here said. "I think

they would be more sensitive to the needs of the community," one man said of

black reporters, "basically because they at one time or another lived-if

not in north PhiladelphiaUm in [a community like north Phil adelphia] --and

they recognize the problems that the black community is faced with.".

Some respondents, however, were not so certain that t...e addition of

black personnel would solve many problems. As one saids

even if they had black reporters, you know what I mean, there are

still assignments and everything. The editor, would he cross it [news of

blacks] out and everything? Guy says, "I got a story here," and the

editor looks at it and says, "Well, this won't make print."

So you get a black reporter and then they say, "We don't think that's

important enough." And maybe it isn't, nationwide. but as far as the

community is concerned--it affects the community, it's important to them.

And a woman respondent pointed out that persons sometimes change after

leaving the commnity to work in other areass

I feel that you take the Tribune and WHATthey-do know the problems.

Maybe they don't want to deal with it. And tan we had a classe-aike the

man says -'.when you were poor, you really ware. And when I came up evorr.

body was poor, so everybody looked better until you get to the middle

class. Well, at the middle class, you don't have time to be worried

about each oiler.

I think it's a lot of people [who] came up very poor, know what our

problem is and then turn their back after they get in a position to help.

I don't think that putting more people from north Philly or black people

on the paper would do any good because we got enough black people in

key positions from north Fhilly. There's enough people in spaces that

know our problems. They're just so involved in their own problems--orthey're thinking they got out of this class and all like this here--and

they don't care.

One woman said that it really isn't so important that black reporters

cover black newsthat the important thing is for reporters to ". . . stay

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27

flexible to the situation, you know, that people are in. It doesn't make

a difference who you are or where you are. I just think you have to be

flexible, you know. Be able to communicate and be able and willing to go into

any type of environment." She continued:

I think the women [reporters] are more aggressive than the men,though. The reason I say some of the wmnen reporters are more aggressiveis because they put themselves into where the people areit's justbecause they're flexible with the type of environment that they're in,So, therefore, I think they manipulate better, don't you?

New Sections, Better Fillers

Some of the individuals interviewed suggested that the news media could

make some changes which might improve communication from the media to the

residents of north Philadelphia. One man, for example, suggested the create:A

of a section for news of the area:

If they could, say, reserve a certain section, say, for a certainreason. I mean this would be of anent in the paper, you know, andthen people would, say, know that they have this news about the commmnity,and even if they didn't want to read the paper they would look for thiscertain area. Because they know that it's covering tie north Philadelphiaarea, ani important news to the community. And, you know, the peoplecould, say, turn to their page. And then the articles wouldn't haveto be big becsms9 a lot of news would be confined on this page.

The suggestion received some support from a woman who said

They [readers] are elevated and trained to read nothing but violencebecause that's all we get, but I feel thatolike I saidit is newswhatever happens. But if you would, say, take one inside page with alittle paragraph such and such a thing. I think people wculd startlooking for it, you know, to see what new projects are developingwhatnew leading citizen, leading class of people, anybody did [to start] anew project. I mally believe they would start looking. The first timethey're not accustomed to it, you knave what I mean? We are nowprogrammed to read nothing but bad news.

Another respondent suggestsd a different, perhaps more effective, use

of newspaper fillers and radio and television flashes:

If everywhere they had a filler they would put these --not justthe one notice, but a series of notices or information -- [item] saying

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such and such a thing is happening at such and such a place or call

this number for such and such a thing, [it would be helpful]. And it'll

have to be done on a continuing basis. It'd have to be done every day,

so people would get used to it. Same thing on TV. Even those flashes

on TV. You'd be surprised how people look at those flashes on TV.

Conclusions

Conclusions based on information from eight case studies are easy to

draw, but difficult to believe in. It is auzgesteL.4, therefore, that the

"conclusions" presented here be considered as suggestions for further resesroh

and thought, and not as recommendations for change in the news coverage of

urban alums. The suggestions are:

1) Bad news from the urban slum should not be downplayed, necessarily,

but the slum should be treated fairly. If bad news from a slum area is

reported, but bad news from other sections of the city is ignored, the fair-

ness of the coverage should be evaluated.

2) Bad news should be kept in perspective. Persons from slum areas

do commit crimes, and that should be reported, but ways should be found to

show that the majority of the slum dwellers oppose criminal activities and

support efforts to reduce crime.

3) Special pains should be taken to avoid superficial and, therefore,

misleading reporting. If news sources don't go to the reporter, then the

reporter should seek out the sources. Newsmen should consider the use of

social science research methods to gather information.

4) When news media recogaze a pant/cal, social, or 6:^namic

injustice, they should consider launching an old-fashioned crusade to carr4at

it, or at least give the problem continuous coverage for an extended period.

5) News media should exert special efforts to find out who the real

black leaders are, and beware of those who shout the loudest but who may have

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no following. Consideration should be given to the possibility that persons

who live and work daily in the cammanity are the true leaders, and that

their opinions are important.

6) Rumors and charges directed against black leaders should be

carefully checked and verified before being disseminated, and, when the

inevitable mistakes are made, corrections and retractions should be made

immeciately and sincerely.

7) Consideration should be given to the publication of seemingly

mundane, butto the communityimportant, information about where one can

go for help in solving financial, medical, legal, and other problems at

minimum cost.

8) Sufficient staff should be provided to check out complaints made

by urban slum dwollers who believe they have been flim-flammed, embarrassed,

or victimized by "the system."

9) Black personnel should be hired, but they should be hired with

care, as skin color doesn't always mean that one is sensitive (or insensitive)

to the needs of the people.

10) Special sections should be created in newscasts and newspapers

for news about the urban slum.

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Footnotes

Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders,

abstracted in Michael C. Emery and Ted Curtis Smythe, eds. Readings in Mass

Communication: Concepts and Issues in the Mass Media (Dubuque, Iowa: 1414 C.

Brown Company Publishers, 1977ilp. 4g3:466,

2 Population Charact(zisticss 1 0 & 1270 Philadelphia Census

Tracts (PhiladelPhia, Pa: Philadelphia Planning Commission, July 1972),

3 The area in which interviews were conducted is part of the

Philadelphia Model Cities program, and therefore is classified as an urban

Slum. Aroas eligible for Model Cities funding ". . . should be substantially

hardcore slums in which low-income families are concentrated and which are

characterized by overcrowding, poverty, unemployment, dependence on welfare

payments, low educational and skill levels, poor health and disease, and

crime and delinquency." The definition is found in the publication' Improving

the Quality of Urban Wes A Program Guide to Model. Neighborhoods in

Demonstration Cities (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Housing and

Urban Development, December 1967), P. 5.

4 Bradley S. Greenberg and Brenda Dervin, Use of the Mass Media tE

the Urban Poor (New York, Washington, and London: Praeger Publishers, 1970);

T.H. Allen, "Mass Media Use Patterns and Functions in a Negro Ghetto,"

unpublished master thesis, University of West Virginia, 19671 Leslie W.

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Howard Lindsay, "Ethnic and Social Class Differences in Comunication Habits

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